Garment.



F. H. SPRAGUE;

GARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8, 1917- v 1,261,863 Patented Apr. 9,1918.

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In v enTov. FredericK H. Sprugug WWMAW Afi'ys.

FREDERICK H. srnaeun, or'onanen, ivress'aonusn'rrs.

GARMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9, rare.

met-eat. filed March 8,1917. serial a... 153,248.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. SPRAGUE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, county of Franklin, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Garments, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to a garment in the nature of a blouse and has for its object to provide a novel garment of this type which can be worn either as a shirtor as a blouse and which is provided with novel means for varying the size of the waist band when it is worn as a blouse.

In order to give an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a view of my improved garment with the flaps disconnected and showing its condition when worn as a shirt;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the waist band portion of the garment showing it adjusted to wear as a blouse;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the blouse effect.

1 indicates a blouse which embodies my invention. This blouse may be made of the usual shape except for the lower end thereof which is so designed that the blouse can be worn either as a shirt or as a blouse. This is herein accomplished by making the blouse with front and rear relatively short flaps and providing means for detachably fastening together the edges of the front flap to the edges of the rear flap. When the garment is worn as a shirt, the flaps are disconnected from each other, thus making a shirt with relatively-short flaps. When the garment is to be worn as a blouse, the flaps are connected together, thus making a continuous waist band.

The garment is so shaped that the flaps are narrower attheir lower edges than at the point where they merge into the body of the garment, and as a result, when the flaps are connected together, a garment will be produced having a continuous waist band which is smaller than the garment at a point above the waist band, thus producing the desired blouse effect.

The front and rear flaps are indicated at 2 and 3, respectively, 2 being the front flap and 3 the rear flap. These flaps are relatively short and are made with the inclined side edges 6 so that they are narrower along their lower edges 4 than along the line 5 where they merge into the body of the garment at their upper ends. The frontflap will preferably be divided vertically at its central portion, as shown at 7, to form a continuation of the opening with which a blouse is usually provided at its front, and a suitable button 8 or other fastening means is provided for fastening the two sections of the front flap together.

Means are provided for detachably fastening together the side edges 6 of the flaps, thus to make a continuous waist band at such times as it is desired to wear the garment as a blouse. Any suitable means of fastening together the side edges 6 may be employed, but I will preferably employ buttons 9 on one flap and make cooperative buttonholes 10 on the other flap. I have herein shown the buttons 9 as sewed to the inner face of the rear flap 3 adjacent the lower ends of the edges 6 and have made the buttonholes 10 in the lower corners of the front flap 2. When the flaps are left unbuttoned or disconnected, as shown in Fig. 1, the garment is similar to a shirt and can be worn as such. The formation of the flaps which are separated at their side edges, as shown, gives plenty of hip room when the garment is worn as a shirt. When it is desired to wear the garment as a blouse, the side edges 6 are buttoned together, as shown in Fig. 2, thus providing the garment with a continuous waist band which is smaller than the portion of the garment at the upper ends of the flaps, thus producing a blouse effect.

It is desirable to provide for adjusting the size of the waist band so that the garment can be readily fitted to persons having different waist measures. I have herein provided for this by making the front flap 2 with a plurality of buttonholes 10 situated at difi'erent distances from the edge 6. As a general rule, two buttonholes at each end of the flap will be suflicient, but if further adjustment is desired, more than two buttonholes on each side can be used. By selecting different buttonholes to be usedwith the buttons 9, the waist band can be adjusted to different sizes. I will also preferably use two or more buttons 8 at the front of the garment so that the portion 12 of the front flap can be buttoned to anyone of the buttons 8, thus providing for further adjustment of the waist band.

A garment embodying my invention can be inexpensively made and it has the im-' portant advantage that it can be used either for a blouse or for a shirt, thus giving a person practically two garments in one. 7

I claim:

1. A garment of the blouse type formed at its bottom to present relatively short front and rear flaps which are narrower at their lower edges than at their upper porably secure the lower edges of the flaps to- V gether at their side edges.

In testimony whereof, I have slgned my name to this specification.

FREDERICIQ H. SPRAGUE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

